Senzaiichiguu: Once in a Lifetime
by Hufa Durf
Summary: It's been months since the final battle, however Saiga Junki's adventures as Reideen's pilot are far from over. His father's disappearance and death comes back to haunt him in ways he has never imagined and an alien Empire has taken notice...Reideen Remak
1. Chapter 1

Senzaiichiguu: Once in a Lifetime

Author's Note: I love this series and was completely shocked when nobody wrote anything about it. Seeing that I would be the first one to do so, I guess that I'm taking a shot at it, so wish me luck.

Chapter One:

"…Saiga Junki."

Dark eyes behind glasses widened as wind blew through messy brown locks of hair.

Green eyes pierced through him.

"Saiga…"

A hand pale as death reached out towards him and seized his right wrist. He noted that they covered up the tattoo that marked Reideen's presence. Before he could protest, he was pulled along towards the edge of the cliff.

In front of him was the visage of Reideen fighting against the alien machines. The image however soon vanished as did the person who had dragged him there. Instead he stood in a dusty, dimly lit passageway. Curious he stepped forward to look at the wall before pulling back in shock.

There on the walls were carved images along with the strange writing that nobody but himself could decipher. However it was unmistakable that the images in front of him revealed Reideen no matter how crude.

Dilated pupils stared at the carved words and images.

"No human could ever understand those words…"

He turned around to see Midorino Akira staring at him.

Gritting his teeth he punched at the carved relief in front of him as his shoulders shook.

"Reideen…"

Darkness engulfed him as a loud noise blared in the background.

Eyes the color of mahogany opened then blinked. Junki found himself staring at the ceiling of his room, aware that it was morning. Reaching over he slammed the alarm off before forcing himself to get out of bed. His movements were automatic as he went through his daily routine of getting ready for school.

"Early as usual." His mother greeted him as he came downstairs and into the kitchen, taking a seat at the table.

"Itadakimasu." Junki replied as he began to eat his breakfast in a relaxed pace. He only glanced up briefly to see his sister who grinned deviously at him. He wondered if he should be torn between amusement or light irritation.

"Still cool as ever Aniki." She chirped as she began to dig into her breakfast with relish.

Giving a soft sigh he gave her a slight smile. "Slow down. You'll choke on your breakfast."

"You're not going to get any girls that way Junki."

Ah yes, there was the slight irritation rising up.

Ever since she had hit 'that age' she had become something of a bomb ready to blow. It didn't help that his mother was in on it as well. Both females of the household believed insinuated at him getting a girlfriend…mostly at Shiori. He didn't mind…much yet at the same time he was trying to balance his school life and his other life as Reideen's pilot. It tore at him day by day at the fact that he had to shoulder the burden of the world and not reveal that fact to those he cared about. The only people that knew of his identity were government officials and a handful of other people...Shiori included.

'You're Reideen's pilot. You can't afford to be reckless.'

He knew it. Always knew it.

"I have my education to consider." He replied with a sigh.

"What's wrong with you Junki? The girls are practically climbing over each other to date you…hehehehe…don't tell me that you're playing hard to get?"

Yup definitely irritation.

He stood up. "Thank you for breakfast. I better get going."

"You are! And don't tell me that it has to do with you being the pilot!"

Refraining to roll his eyes Junki left the house and mounted his scooter and drove off to school.

Mikansen High School was prestigious and well known throughout Tokyo as one of the top schools as well as the most expensive. Seeing that his mother was single and working, she couldn't afford sending him there which left him to enter through another way- the harder way…exams. Learning came easily to him as did everything else. However unlike others who wished to flaunt that skill or skills rather, he preferred to keep to himself about what he was capable of.

If anything else he hated to draw unnecessary attention to himself, though he did unintentionally. His life was full of strange coincidences…or God was having fun playing with him- he really couldn't say.

Parking his scooter near the bike racks he went about greeting what seemed to be a million people as he made his way to his classroom. The number of people who greeted him of the late became larger ever since the kendo tournament that he was forced to participate in and that didn't stop the kendo captain…

Speaking of which…

"Oy Saiga!"

Had he been a normal student he would have groaned. Junki however turned around and blinked at the shorter boy who came up to him with that creepy grin of his. Pushing up his glasses, he braced himself for the other boy's persistent charge.

"Good morning…" Junki replied with as much calm as he could muster given the situation. The kendo captain was well known for being somewhat questionable.

"You're going to join the kendo team for good."

After several moments of silence Junki sighed before giving his reply. "Have you forgotten that I have work?" He prayed to whatever gods available that the other boy would be deterred but he had a feeling that the captain wouldn't be. The kendo team had lost the semi-regional competition and but the in the regional had been undefeated and thus allowed into the prefectures tournaments.

"An hour and a half won't kill you."

"I also have to tutor my sister."

"Already arranged."

"I have to study for my exams to Tokyo University. They've already sent an application to me."

"You're the top student of your grade level."

By then people had stopped to stare at the match off between himself and the kendo captain. Shaking off this guy was like trying to shake off his co-workers. Speaking of which, from the corner of his eyes he saw his two 'bodyguards' smirking in his direction, no doubt taking pleasure in his unease of the situation.

"Come on Junki. You're really skilled." Shiori said as she came up to join in on the 'conversation' if one could call it that.

Good God.

"Besides Saiga…I need a successor. I'll be leaving after graduation this year."

Couldn't they understand that he didn't want to do kendo anymore? Was it so hard to ask for a normal life?

'_You're anything but normal.'_

That thought rang through his mind, chilling him to the core. He didn't ask much of the world and yet everything was thrust his way. He didn't hate Reideen, he hated his situation…Hated the fact that the weight grew heavier with each passing battle. He wasn't a saint that everyone saw him as.

'Your son is so wonderful. So obedient and mature.'

He wasn't wonderful and people mistook his silence as maturity.

After what happened in his last competitive tournament as a serious kendo student, he vowed to never come back. What he had done, what he had been capable of always weighed on his mind. No matter what his mother had told him, he could never get rid of the stained past.

"To you it's a wonderful thing that I have some mediocre skills in kendo but there are things best left in the past."

A hand reached out and gripped his shoulder and Junki fought to keep his face straight. For a much smaller person, the kendo captain had a strong grip.

"What happened when you were eleven wasn't your fault whatsoever. Your opponent was stupid to think that he could take you on with an injury."

"That doesn't change anything. I still disabled him for the rest of his life." Junki replied as he pried the kendo captain's hand off him and made his way to his classroom. However like the true nature of schools, word had already gotten out about that small fact, added to the kendo captain's tenacity.

"Eeh! I knew that Saiga-kun was good but he was slated to be national champion at eleven?! I never knew!" A girl exclaimed as he slid into his seat and stared out of the window.

"I have a few videos of Junki's tournaments." Shiori chirped.

"Really?! I want to watch! I bet that Saiga-kun was super cute as a child!"

Junki tuned out the rest as he stared out of the window.

0o0o0o0o0

The sight that befell him made him blink and blink again. He could have sworn that he had seen an eerily similar scene a few weeks ago. Ah yes…

The White Heron Unit was splurging themselves on watermelons.

Plural.

Last time only included a party of one watermelon.

"The kendo captain again…" He said in a mixture of a sigh and exasperation.

All three adults nodded happily.

"You can come in later!"

Junki didn't have to ask what 'come in later' meant. He closed the door and left.

When he got home, he would no doubt see the same thing.

Contacting Tokyo University…well…he just didn't want to know. If the kendo captain had THAT much information on him- Junki had no wish to know the extent to save his sanity.

0o0o0o0o0

"Saiga…Saiga…hmm that name seems familiar."

"Depends on which Saiga you're referring to."

Koumei Kanase fumbled in his precariously balanced chair before grabbing hold of his desk to prevent a rather painful fall.

"What the hell do you mean by that Hikoto?"

"There's a Professor Saiga that's world known for his work in archeology and vanished over ten years ago. Then there's his son, Saiga Junki who was Japan's prodigy in kendo and also rumored to work for the government."

Kanase glared at the light brown haired boy with hazel eyes. "That last part was not funny."

"I know but the other part was true. Saiga Junki was a prodigy, I heard that he's come back to the kendo world."

"Saiga Junki eh? Now that you mentioned his full name I do remember something about him. Scary guy from what Aniki once told me when I wanted to do kendo to follow in his footsteps. That was years ago though."

Minakata Hikoto sighed before rubbing his forehead. "You're on the kendo team and yet you don't know much about him? Hell I know more of the kendo world than you. Anyhow is your kendo captain nervous?"

Kanase started then studied his friend before nodding. "Yeah…he seemed really freaked out about it. I mean why should he be this freaked if the guy had been on a four year hiatus from kendo? If you don't practice then the skills go away."

"Normally I would have to agree with you Kanase but you have no idea how much people he's freaked out with his skill. Hell he was slated to become national champion at eleven before he quit because his opponent had been stupid enough to fight with a severe injury for the sake of pride. Then there's the thing about him being untouchable as far as emotions go. This guy's a real piece of work. If Mikansen forces him into kendo like they did at the regional tournament then it'll be interesting to see if the Prodigy's skills have rusted or gotten sharper."

"The way you ramble about him makes me think you're a stalker." Kanase muttered before he received a smack over the head.

"And you're a complete dolt."

As Kanase rubbed the back of his head, wincing he digested the information provided to him. He had been in kendo for a few years now and was surprised that he hadn't heard much of the 'prodigy.' It was as if he were a ghost that suddenly appeared then vanished into the nothingness he had come out of. His brother had once said the name in awe and fear, though Kanase forgot as the years went by and his brother never spoke the name.

"Hey Hikoto."

"Mmm?"

"What about those rumors of him working for the government?"

Kanase's question was met with another fist to the head.

0o0o0o0o0

When Saiga came to school the next day there was a ruckus about a few students from another school visiting for the day. It wasn't a rare thing per say. Just highly uncommon. That being said Saiga decided to keep an ear out for any information regarding the strange event.

During lunch he was unfortunate to have run across the kendo captain.

"I won't take no for an answer. The teachers all approved of it and so did your co-workers."

Junki for once refrained from swearing. He was rarely prone to the urge of cursing unless the occasion called for it but the captain was testing his patience as far as things were going. He smashed the irritation down in favor of integrity.

"Fine. If you insist so much then I will join your team but I'm not doing this for you." Junki said coldly as he glared at the shorter boy.

"Understood."

Junki saw the smirk on the other's face and held back from sighing in exasperation. This person…was quite the character.

"Oh by the way. You're starting today."

He wasn't in the least surprised.

With that said and done, he made his way back to the classroom to have a peaceful lunch…only to have that one thing taken away from him as his classmates immediately mobbed him the moment he stepped inside the classroom. Shiori had a smirk on her face as well and there was no doubt that she had helped set this up.

"Junki! Isn't that great! You're doing kendo again! You look so good in the gear, it really suits you. So refined, like a samurai from the old times."

The other girls crowded around giggling.

"Saiga! You lucky bastard!" The boys crowed.

Everyone in the group broke out into laughter save for Junki who could only shake his head at their antics.

"I'm not lucky at all." He muttered as classes began.

The rest of the day flew by until he had to trudge to the locker areas reserved for the kendo team. He noticed that the others were already in the dojo practicing as well as the fact that instead of his close friends being there to watch him…his whole class came. Shuffling around he fell upon a locker that sported his name. Letting his bag fall to the floor he stared at the locker before gripping his hands into fists before letting loose a sigh of frustration.

Reaching out he opened the locker to come face to face with a bogu set, hakama, keikogi and a rather familiar shinai. No doubt his mother had brought it to school sometime today and the kendo captain had intercepted to put it in the locker. Frowning he pulled the uniform out. Like the one he had worn for the tournament a few weeks back, everything was brand new. Taking off his clothes he reached out to don the uniform and armor. Finally Junki reached up to remove his glasses before placing them on top of his school uniform.

He left the locker rooms with the helmet tucked under his arm and his shinai held in his other hand. His myopia wasn't bad, just mild even obscured by the helmet. He looked up when he entered the dojo to see a vast number of eyes on him. His classmates and other students from other classes were there to watch as well.

A small inaudible sigh left him as he gazed at them with a slight frown.

"There you are! I was about to send out a search party to come after you."

Junki gave the other boy a strained smile before swiftly slipping on the helmet. He watched as the other boy did the same. Each movement…he noticed that though the captain was as skilled as he had hoped for him to be. The posturing and the way he held his shinai…however that could very well be a trick. Stepping out to the marked areas, he noted that some were hesitant in facing him after the brief training sessions he had with them for the regional tournament.

After a few moments a person finally mustered up the courage to face him.

'Is that all you can do? Your limits…they're made by you aren't they?'

Mahogany eyes narrowed, turning slightly olive before Junki charged at his opponent. As like the last time the match was over in a matter of seconds.

From the side the kendo captain grinned before he came up to Junki.

"Since a one on one is unfair to them, how about a three on one match?"

"Kendo is an art that requires one on one."

"Ah but where's the fun in that for you?"

"I'm serious. You want to go to nationals don't you? That's why you asked me to join your team. Your injury isn't quite healed."

"You're quite something else eh? So you noticed? Not surprising. You're one of those rare kind of guys that can do everything. See this as a training method…to better analyze the situation."

Junki couldn't argue with that no matter what.

"Fine." He muttered as the kendo captain grinned and held out a wrapped, long, somewhat cylindrical object to him.

He took it and took off the cloth, revealing a bokken.

"Your mother left this as well."

It was a bokken that his father had given to him before vanishing off the face of the planet. He took it into his gloved hands and turned it over. It was carved into a likeliness of a katana and much sleeker than the shinai as well as slightly heavier. He watched as three people were called to the floor to face him.

He bowed to them before allowing them to surround him. From there his world became a tunnel vision of just him and his three opponents. He could hear their heartbeats and their breaths from behind their masks. Around him his sense heightened and searched for a signal that would begin something he had never done in his life out of respect and partially out of fear of what he was capable of.

There…a speeding heartbeat…

With that the battle started.

Junki cut through them, dodging their attempts to land hits on him as he spun, slashing at their armor with vicious intensity. His heart was calm as his world became an explosion of sound and movement. It was only that he had made a thrust to a person's throat, mere centimeters from their adam's apple did he once again become aware of his surroundings. The other two were in a collapsed panting heap.

A shinai clattered to the floor as the person in front of him collapsed onto his knees. From beyond his mask Junki saw awe and fear. Frowning, he lowered his bokken.

"What's going on here?!"

Everybody turned to see the supervisor of the kendo team; Higame Satoshi an elderly man known as one of the best kendoka in his generation standing at the door way to the dojo wearing a frown which added more lines to his already lined face.

"Waa! Busted!"

Indeed.

Removing his helmet he faced the kendoka calmly as he tucked in under an arm. Behind the older man were two boys in a different school's uniform. The visitors…

"Forgive my rudeness." He said softly as he bowed to the older man and the two boys and straightened up.

The stern look on the other man's face lifted as he shook his head.

"No. That's fine Saiga-kun. I'm just glad that you wanted to come back to kendo. Your skills have not diminished after four years of disuse. What you just did now…reminded me back when you were in your prime."

Junki stared at the ground before facing the older man with no need to lie to him out of pure respect. "I practiced…every once in a while if to relieve stress or teach my sister."

"Are you sure about it? You were quite adamant about dropping kendo then and it didn't help that of the late people have spotted you in the archery range sometimes before the start of school or after."

Feeling the weight of everyone's eyes on him, Junki pushed them aside to continue staring up at the man.

"What happened in the past…I've somewhat come over. As to the archery…I wanted to see if I could see the target in my mind instead of with my eyes. It was a thing borne from curiosity."

"The archery instructor was wondering who your teacher was to have such fine form. I too have to admit my own surprise when she brought in a recording of your practices. You do have fine form."

Junki was at a loss for words. He had only wanted to see if what he did with Reideen carried over into real life since Maedesaki had commented that the pilot's talents had to have carried over into whatever was piloted. Some of it had been true as far as using the God Sword went. As to the archery portion…he had wanted to see if he had talent to have allowed his lucky shots been more than just things out of pure luck.

Sure he had gotten bull's eyes all the time but he wasn't sure. Archery was more of a precision art than kendo, which was strategy. What forms he knew, he just pulled off of what he had seen once in a while passing through the traditional martial arts section of the school every now and then along with movies. [Not that movies were accurate mind you.

"No teacher…it was something I was recently playing around with out of curiosity. I've had my academics to worry about to have joined a team or to have taken lessons at a local dojo. Well then Saiga-kun, welcome back to the kendo world and to the team- though I'll have to let you be kidnapped by the archery club every so often. Ayame can be very persistent if she wants to be."

"Waaa! You're an archery genius too Saiga-kun?!"

"Cool!"


	2. Chapter 2

Senzaiichiguu: Once in a Lifetime

Chapter Two:

"Junki? Are you getting enough sleep?" Shiori asked as she plopped down next to him with worry in her eyes.

He wondered on whether to lie to her or not. Then again she could tell when he lied. They were childhood friends after all, not to mention also a female. They were intuitive as far as emotions went.

"I've been having strange dreams lately." He replied. It wasn't new that he would dream strange dreams. Everyone he knew also knew about it. Some joked that he had an overactive imagination to compensate for his calm demeanor. Then there were some that commented that it had to do with the fact that he could blame his mother's side of the family for them. They had at some time been priests and priestesses at one point in time.

For the most part the others found them rather fascinating that he could have such vivid dreams. Junki attributed them with perhaps dealing with the fact that he had good memory, which he did.

"You're always having strange dreams but they're nice aren't they? I don't even remember half of mine and when I do they're silly. Totally not cool like yours."

Junki found nothing 'cool' about them. In fact he was wary of them. One had already come true and if things kept going like it was…then more would follow. The question lie in whether he wanted them to continue or not. His whole life turned into a messed up manga. Every mangaka would find the prospect thrilling but he hardly thought that it was.

Being the only defense against an alien invasion…his safety was a priority as well as keeping Reideen under the 'control' of the government.

'Reideen's inside of you.'

Gripping at his chest he felt his heart beat under the clothing; warm and steady. Inside of him…

He once read a book on dreams and their connection to psychology back in middle school as to explain why he had recurring ones all the time. For the most part he only found that the texts talked about recurring dreams as symbolic to a person's wants or desires.

Fighting and giant robots…didn't strike him as symbolic. The colors did though…he had known that much. The golden one represented the stereotypical good and the black the stereotypical black. Life wasn't just black and white, there would always be grey no matter what. People were vicious, kind, caring, destructive and more. He knew but it never really hit home until he was pulled into whatever world Reideen created for him.

"I don't think that they're cool. They're just dreams." He answered with a weak smile.

"Oh don't say that. Knowing you, it might be that you're developing psychic powers." Shiori said in a manner that alluded to Hoshikawa.

Junki fought hard to keep the weak smile on his face as the others around him erupted into laughter.

Midorino turned from her seat and looked at Junki before returning to her book.

However Shiori noticed the weak smile faltering. She always knew when he was faking for everyone's sake. His eyes however were conflicted and pain ridden. It wasn't hard to see that he was carrying the burden of being Reideen's pilot. His grades were still fine but his attendance was shoddy given that it was most likely that the government kept dragging him to their meetings.

0o0o0o0o0

Slash, dodge, block, yell…

Junki readied his shinai in front of him as the person across from him aimed for his face. Pivoting on his heel he slashed at the chest and turned until he had the shinai pointed at the person's throat.

"Next!"

Someone came up wearing a different school's bogu and uniform. Junki blinked for a moment.

"Visitors are supposed to get a badge from the main office and even then aren't allowed to interrupt classes or activities." He said as the other person continued to make his way forward. Looking closely, he found that the emblem of the school was Hanamorigaku's…one of Mikansen's rival schools'.

"You have very little sense of fun. Name's Kanase by the way."

Junki had little time to process the words as the other boy came flying at him with his shinai.

'Fast…' Junki thought as he sidestepped and whirled around as both wooden swords clashed, locking together.

"They said you were good…but they never said this good."

Somehow those words irritated him beyond all belief as he gave a push and the swords became loose from each other's grasp. Junki readied his shinai once more. From behind his helmet he could see that the other boy was panting. Curiously brown-olive eyes watched…there…

With a yell Junki came charging at Kanase of Hanamorigaku. He could see the other boy's eyes widen as he viciously slashed at his chest. The other boy had fallen down in shock as his shinai clattered mournfully.

"The-They never said that you were a kendo-ka or a dan!"

It was then that Junki realized that he was holding the tip of the shinai at the other boy's throat. The only thrust allowed in kendo…one that was only allowed for dan or kendo-ka to use. His old master had never so much as brought up the subject of forced surrender to him yet ever since he joined the kendo club it was becoming more frequent.

Lowering his shinai he shook his head at the other boy.

"No. I am not a kendo-ka or a dan otherwise I would have been forced to do kendo my whole life."

"What's wrong with that? It's a highly respectable job."

"I didn't do it out of personal glory or praise. There are reasons that you are not privy to. Now if you would please, we have to practice for the upcoming matches."

Junki brought his eyes up to the gathered who were watching in morbid fascination and he frowned as he ripped off his helmet. Deciding that it wasn't worth his breath, he turned his back to the stranger and waved away Shiori's concerned looks.

Kanase watched as the taller boy walked to the sidelines away from the rest of the kendo team. Sighing he stood up with his fallen shinai in hand, noticing that it was shaking slightly.

"Talk about being overpowered."

He turned to see Hikoto calmly making his way. Feeling somewhat bruised in the ego he opted to glare, though its effectiveness diminished due to the fact he was wearing a helmet that hid his face.

"Yeah, yeah rub it in my face will ya?"

Hikoto ignored his words. "To think that you, the vice captain of the kendo team was beaten in…" Here he checked his watch for verification. "Less than three minutes. That's quite the record."

"Hey Hikoto."

The brown haired boy with hazel eyes turned his attention to Kanase. "Yes?"

"You were right about him. That guy's freaky. Everything you said about him is true. His skills are something else, he should have been a dan or a kendo-ka in the least."

"Told you so." Hikoto said with a smile. "Now do you understand?"

"You know I just noticed that you talk as if you fought him before."

Hikoto laughed as he gazed at the tall figure of Junki before he stopped.

"That's because my brother was stupid enough to underestimate him and it cost him from being able to do kendo or other strenuous sports for the rest of his life with the exception of ping pong and badminton."

Dark brown eyes widened at the revelation.

"Shouldn't you hate him then?" Kanase asked hesitantly.

"For what? For warning my idiot of a brother that withdrawing would be the more dignified way of losing? Why should I hate him when he told him not to fight with that kind of injury? People have said that Saiga Junki is cold, emotionless and distant but he knows mercy, dignity and honor albeit his current hesitant and reluctant nature…what caused that I have no idea."

Both Hanamorigaku students threw one last glance at Junki before leaving.

Unknown to them, Junki had been listening the whole time.

0o0o0o0o0

"In the beginning of time were the gods and they created the universe and with it they created their chosen children to become masters and stewards of the created universe as well as to guide the newborn planetary systems and the people within.

"Over time one god became discontent with the fact that the other gods could create something beautiful and marvelous as the universe and grew jealous. He grew so jealous that he created his own children and began to hunt down the children of the creators. In doing so he invented all the universe's sins of death, disease, famine, war, strife, hatred and so forth.

"As the wars waged between the two factions of godly children, the worlds were soon pulled into the strife. One race, the grandchildren of the Enlightened Ones saw the destruction laying waste to what was once a peaceful universe and began to develop vessels for war so that there would be no more wars to fight.

"In the end the children of the greater gods who created the universe and everything within it won against the Dark One with the help of the vessels created by their grandchildren. However the gods were displeased at the destruction and death that had entered a perfect place, banished the creations of the grandchildren of the Enlightened Ones to the far corners of the universe. The Dark Ones escaped to infiltrate and destroy that which had helped in their defeat…"

The hologram revealed a re-enactment of the fighting factions to the fascinated children gathered in the classroom.

"Teacher. How many of the guardian vessels are there?"

Sylvia Rastule looked away from the hologram to the assembled children before her. They were of varying species off of the various planetary systems under the Lleyster Empire.

"Historians aren't too sure but according to the information we have, it's most likely to be an odd number that's correlated with meaning. The agreed number at the moment is seven." She replied to the blue skinned, humanoid child named Vector.

Sylvia herself was one of few survivors of Glyssia's destruction; her home planet that had housed such a guardian. Her long silver hair was envied among some of the other women and other species saw her horns as interesting. She remembered how the pilot of the guardian tried so hard to defend their planet against the agents of the Dark Ones. In the end he had been captured along with the guardian and Glyssia destroyed.

The only survivors were ones that were off planet at the time of the destruction. In the end she had come to the Lleyster Empire as a refugee and found work as a history teacher.

Lleyster was one of few empires across the universe to have the power withstand the agents of the Dark Ones given that the technology was already quite advanced. The Lleysters were the far descendants of the grandchildren of the Enlightened Ones who had created the Guardians for the sole sake of ending the war that introduced the dark side of living and tainted it with death.

Sometimes other survivors blamed the Guardian for the destruction of Glyssia but it wasn't the fault of the machine but rather the Dark Ones. They kept destroying even if there were no guardians around. In fact they created their own bastardized version of it and destroyed other planets with such mockeries. The Lleyster Empire drove them away but who could say the same for the others?

"Does anyone know how they're piloted?" Another asked.

"Now that's a tough question." Sylvia admitted. "There's a lot of speculation as to how they work. The Artificial Piloted Systems or the A.P.S are remakes of a destroyed Guardian dug up years ago and even then it's not as sophisticated or as powerful as the originals. However they do have AI which allows them to chose a pilot based on many factors. So far it's been revealed that those that have been pilots for a long time have revealed that they had the largest number of Enlightened gene markers along with the ability to mentally synchronize with the systems."

A few of the children stared at her in surprise before leaning forward.

"So you're saying that they're sentient?! No way!"

"The initial framework called for it."

The hologram of the ancient paintings vanished to be replaced with the various APS that the Lleyster Empire had produced for centuries.

"We aren't the only Empire to have such weapons. The Stivixians, the Yvlenians and the Krushrans also have something like the APS to fight against the Dark Ones and their agents. Now then all you pilot hopefuls…class is dismissed and you may have your free time." She said as the holograms vanished and the lights once again came onto full power.

Once all of the students had left the classroom Col. Vyrxas entered wearing his plug suit indicating that he had just come back from a training session. He was a native Stivixian with strange purple eyes and lime green hair and the height of a giant that was common for his race. His other defining features as a Stivixian were also his tattoos under his left eye signifying his adult status among his people.

"May I help you?" She asked as she saluted him. They were on an off planet training base and he was a ranking officer and she but a civilian teacher or so everyone thought.

"At ease Lt. Sylvia. I just came to tell you details of a possible mission." He said as the hydraulic doors closed with a soft hiss.

A silver brow quirked. "Oh? What will it entail this time Colonel? Hopefully not playing god to a bunch of natives in order to help with another archaeological investigation because the Gods be willing that was rather embarrassing." She responded with a hint of sarcasm.

"There's been confirmation of another Guardian in a system in the Uncharted Territories. It also happens to be in the same area that Emperor Illyxis was last noted before vanishing two hundred years ago."

Catlike, amber colored eyes widened. "Are you implying that they unearthed the Guardian?" She asked.

"We can't confirm that. All we know is that the Dark Ones' agents were there and were defeated; but not destroyed."

"They haven't left the system?"

"They have; however if we're careful we can make negotiations with the natives of the system once the Dark Ones leave. I'm sure that they'll be back in the system but not for a while...the other pilot did extensive damage to them."

Sylvia shifted on her feet as she thought about it. As of now she had nothing else to do and she burned with curiosity over the possibility of seeing a real Guardian up close. "I guess that I don't have a choice but to go then. Well, being part of negotiations won't be so bad. I guess I'll receive my information once we embark."

"That you will." He replied.

With that the colonel left the classroom.

0o0o0o0o0

Saiga Junki didn't have to turn around to know who it was as he put away the silver colored bracelet. Reideen's presence…shared with Midorino Akira…they were both one and the same. Once things had settled down he had tried to wrap his head around that fact because it was hard to imagine that the girl he had fallen in love with…was a part of Reideen's consciousness made in flesh…It was confusing and though his feelings were changing, that didn't stop the fact that he had great respect for Reideen and cared for her.

"You're getting better." She said as she came to stand beside him.

He rubbed the back of his head in partial embarrassment. The knowledge of knowing where people were before they came near him was only a recent development to his other oddities. First there were dreams, then his connection with Reideen/Akira and now his extra sixth sense…let's not forget his sudden random ability to see into the past/future.

This would be the first time since that battle that managed to drive away the aliens and Roxell that he actually had time to speak to her. "Not really…it sometimes works and sometimes doesn't." He replied as he leaned against the railing of a bike rack. "I can't explain it…my abilities…they're not so extraordinarily obvious…like Hoshikawa's but at the same time…they stand out in their own way."

She leaned against the railing near him, her green eyes boring into his own.

"Everyone on this world is born with gifts. You always had them like Hoshikawa has always had hers…but yours are awakening and wish to be recognized."

He shook his head.

"I was never quite aware of them until now."

Akira smiled at him. "You always suppressed them. Your will for them to be sealed away is more than Hoshikawa's."

"Have I really? Perhaps so…I was afraid of what I could do to other people."

Junki stared at his hands, flexing them. She laid a hand over his. "Don't blame yourself. You cared so much that you forced all of it away because you were afraid of hurting more people…quit the one sport that you liked and focused on your academics."

"Sometimes it's hard not to. I know that wallowing in self pity won't do much but things are sometimes too much to take in all at once."

She gazed up at him. "Don't limit yourself…you were meant to do greater things. You were given these gifts…that's what you told Hoshikawa before."

The corners of his lips quirked as he held her gaze.

"Now…let go and be what you were always meant to be." She said as she reached out to touch Junki's forehead.

He felt his eyes droop as they closed. The darkness surrounded him and he realized that he was in his own mind. From the blackness he saw something come forth. It was a piece of his will. He watched as his other self held out a hand.

To be what he was meant to be.

Junki raised his hand and reached out to touch that of the portion of his will that he had kept locked up. Their hands met and a golden light burst forth as he felt warmth filling him up. A lost part of him had come back…and it seared through his soul. He never quite understood just how much he had kept locked up until now.

"Fly Junki."

Opening his eyes he saw the world was more vivid and then turned his gaze to Akira before smiling.

In a small sphere of light they both vanished and Reideen flew through the blue skies.

It had been two months since he last could summon Reideen.

0o0o0o0o0

On a distant, hardly populated planet Roxell hobbled along with a makeshift cane as the desolate winds tugged at his clothing and hair. He was missing an amber eye but was still alive. He had lost everything because of the Trio as well as Saiga Junki. A cruel smile tugged at his lips at he leaned against his makeshift cane.

Reideen had indeed chosen Saiga Junki as its pilot but there was something interesting that he had gleaned from the Earthling that set him apart from the others. It was something that would cause an uproar throughout the universe.

The boy was no longer his enemy, but it was fun tormenting Saiga Junki who hid behind his façade of normalness trying so hard not to make himself different from the rest that he protected. Yes it was a good tactic in times of need but the boy was too adamant about being removed from strangeness that it would back fire on him.

Their last battle had been quite something. Though still inexperienced in piloting, Roxell could tell that the boy had much formal training in the military arts to have held him off for this long. The boy…had good form and was quite adaptable to his situations. Though battered in the end he held off both attacks in order to insure time to recover.

To have unleashed that enormous blade with such precision with Reideen was clear enough indication that the boy was more than he let on. Perhaps more than human for no human could have survived the attack by the Trio and found a way to fight back. Reideen was powerful, but a machine was only as strong as its pilot.

Author's Note: That was a pretty interesting chapter if I do say. XD. If they don't make a second season of Reideen I'll most likely have a depressed period since it's one of my favorite shows of all time.


	3. Chapter 3

Senzaiichiguu: Once in a Lifetime

Chapter Three:

Words…everywhere…

They played across his eyes, glowing blue and gold. Sparks filled the air as he peered closer at the moving text, taking in the contents of which they spilled. His lips moved to form the words as his throat released a noise that was pleasant yet so foreign at the same time. It took a moment for him to realize that the sounds escaping his throat sounded like the blowing wind, the dull roaring ocean, of floating clouds and golden sunshine. No human words could fully put meaning into the sensation of speaking the timeless language.

He touched his chest where warmth bubbled up from his words. It was more of a feeling, a shared universal feeling rather than a language so to speak. It was the feeling that he associated with Reideen and Akira…both one and the same yet so drastically different. Reaching out at the wall with moving text he touched it, letting the warmth flood him everywhere. Throwing his head back he let the 'words' flow through him as if he were a thirsty man drinking water after being without for such a long time.

The wall and the words vanished to be replaced by the image of infinite space, that black void of stars and pinpoints of light miles upon miles away from Earth. Junki stared out there, feeling a longing in his being for whatever it was that lie beyond the place called Earth. Before he knew it he was hurled past planets, galaxies, star systems and other denizens of space until he was hovering above a large planetary system. Peering closer he realized that there were space vessels everywhere.

Another one of his dreams and visions at the same time…

Images of memories flashed before his eyes, memories not of his own…memories of times gone by. There was a great battle that threw up fire across the heavens, illuminating against the blackness of space. They outshone the stars and Junki could hear the screams and feel the pain as lives perished around him. Then there was Reideen…

Olive-brown eyes widened at the sight of the still forms of Reideen and Gadeon lying beside each other. Could this have been the facility in which they were built? If so then how long ago? The technology around him was breathtaking and unexplainable in Earth's terms. As more memories flashed by he tried to take hold of them. They were precious memories of the forgotten that had come back to say something to him. What? What were they trying to say?

Then the last images fell into his hands revealing a tall man wearing strange clothing that clearly wasn't anything of Earth standing before a crowd of millions. The strange head piece he had on was a crown and in that moment Junki realized that this man was a ruler of some unknown planet. Taking a closer look at the man, Junki did a double take as his eyes widened and his breath left his lungs.

That man…looked just like his father…and like himself. In fact…he looked eerily like one of his great great grandfathers from his father's side of the family. Shocked, he forced himself away from the image and woke up.

Gritting his teeth harshly, he brought a hand to his forehead as pain racked his nerves. Hissing in pain he screwed his eyes shut as colors burst behind his eyelids at the intensity of the pain before he leaned forward. Blinking away colored dots, he took a shuddering breath to relieve some of the pain. When his vision returned to normal and the pain abated to a dull ache he stared at the clock before tossing aside the blankets.

No point in going back to bed.

His feet hit the cold wooden floors of his room before he padded over to his computer. Seating himself in his black computer chair that his mother had bought him a few weeks back, he woke his computer up from its slumber and proceeded to log on. He had something that most computer geeks or astronomy buffs would have killed to have: computer access to the Hubble Telescope and others. Typing away at the keyboard he navigated around until he found what he was looking for.

Since what had happened with the aliens, he had decided to keep an eye out of strange things moving towards Earth. He jammed on his glasses that had been lying complacently on the desk where they had been placed hours before hand. As his mouse moved between windows restlessly, he decided to settle for surfing the internet for news.

Rays of sunlight filtered through his room, by then he had more than ready to go to school as his computer kept track of the happens of the Hubble Telescope. Ever since he had been unwillingly forced to be part of the government, they had deemed it necessary to give him a salary and clearance to files. His cover job at VT Audios also paid pretty well; added on top of his government stipend. Part of the benefits that came for being a rather indispensable part of the government was that he also was in on the latest technology had to offer. He reached over to pick up his small laptop. It was almost as small as a portable DVD player but rather powerful. Built by Panasonic, it was virtually indestructible. Weighing at the most about two pounds it was virtually nothing. Luckily the company had made the keyboard large enough so that he could type on it given that his hands were rather big.

Placing the small dark metallic red laptop inside his bag, he hoisted it over his shoulder and made his way down to have breakfast and depart for school as usual. The memories still played in his head in a vivid fashion but he gently put it in the backseat for the moment being. He had his education to worry about and dreams were the last thing that he needed to mess up his concentration.

0o0o0o0o0

It had been a few days since Sylvia had left the Lleyster Empire and into the Unchartered Territories with the delegation party. Sir Gyrvin, a well reputed delegate for foreign affairs had also come along. Colonel Vyrxas hadn't told her the bulk of the mission but Sir Gyrvin's appearance at the site was more than enough to tell her that this mission was rather important. So important…that they sent the best to handle the situation.

The portly man was in his usual jolly mood as she stood on the bridge to see the hazy lights that marked the fact that they were traveling through a 'worm hole' via hyperspace that was a small opening between the Lleystian Empire and the coordinates to the unknown planet. The travel had lasted a few weeks due to the distance.

"The Parliament was more than happy to fund this expedition if means the return of our most esteemed Emperor. According to probes sent a century ago, only one planet of the whole entire system was habitable. The planet's moon and one of its neighbors, a dust planet showed promise of supporting life with terraforming. Then we left it alone due to the fact that it was a level 4 planet with very little advancement in technology. However it's exciting to see that this planet had managed to achieve so much in the last 120 years.

"Though you may only believe that we're only there to observe and search for the Emperor and the Guardian, our job is to also make contact with the pilot of the Guardian. We want to insure that we have friendly relations with the natives of the planet as well as observe the pilot and figure out the missing part that would make our APS closer to the original Guardians."

Sylvia stared out of the windows at the bright lights of hyperspace flashing by her. Observe the pilot? She wondered what the pilot was like. The one from her old planet had been strapped with the responsibility of being a war machine before their planet had been attacked by the Dark Ones and their Agents. It had been a mistake on their part. They relied on him too much, and used him as a tool for war.

All sentient beings were cursed with the good and the bad. They were capable of love, kindness, cruelty and madness. These Earthians…somewhat primitive and crude by all standards of the Empires; they survived an onslaught from the Trio. They succeeded where her people had failed.

What was this planet like?

Glancing up at the time keeping device she noted that they were close to the deadline of appearing in the system that the Emperor had vanished to. The lights of hyperspace faded out as a giant planet the color of teal loomed in front of them. It was a gas giant with windstorms and a few moons. As the ship slowed to cruise and stealth mode, Sylvia saw that the planets in the system were beautiful to behold. Their colors were outstanding. She had seen a great deal of planets in her lifetime so far and the gas giants in this system were by far quite interesting.

As they slipped through the asteroid belt between the giants and the sold planets, she caught sight of a bright red planet.

"It's all iron." Sir Gyrvin said as he gazed at it with some interest.

Even so the intensity of the planet's color was fascinating. She continued to look at it when she noticed the polar ice caps on top of both poles. Yes there was strong potential in terraforming the planet; however she doubted that the Earthians were ready for it.

"Oxidized iron? There's an abundance of it in this system…To have a whole planet red because of it."

"Indeed. It's rare to find such planets we only have three in the Empire that can supply an abundance of Klassa metal."

Iron was weak compared to Klassa. Then again all other metals were. It was what the ship was made of to begin with. She continued to watch out of the glass windows as they passed the silent red planet and beheld a dark blue and green gem that glowed light blue from the solar rays that was shining behind it. She gaped at it before her.

Never had she thought of it as a small planet but indeed it was. Yet even though it was tiny in comparison to the planets she had seen in her lifetime however unlike the cold grey that was on a vast majority of planets, this one still had natural life. In fact she could barely see cities from where she was at. Coming a bit closer she was able to see that the people of Earth built their cities in such a way that there would always be some part of nature in them.

They were advancing at an abnormal pace as far as growing planets went. To jump from candles to electricity and transglobal communications in about 120 years was unprecedented in a good number of developing planets that were being monitored. They had touched space from the satellites that were in orbit of the planet to give indication for such. It was now a level 5 planet and by law it was perfectly alright to contact them.

"Earth…will be an interesting place."

She could only agree with him as she watched as the probes were released into Earth's atmosphere. For the next few Earth months they would gather information including languages and customs.

However she didn't miss the fact that the moon was missing a large chunk from it as well as had a newly created fissure that created a large scar on the moon's surface.

0o0o0o0o0

"Stand, bow and sit!"

Chairs scrapped across the linoleum floor as the entire class stood up, bowed and once again took their seats. Junki had caught Akira's eyes and gave her a small smile before sitting down. Shiori caught sight of the exchange and sighed as she took her seat as well. She wished that Junki would at least look her way. For the longest time she had liked him more than just childhood friends. It wasn't fair that some stranger would take him away.

She wasn't a bitter person in the least but after all that had been said and done, she knew Junki better than anyone else. Biting her lip she watched him from across her seat. It was something else to know that he was the pilot of Reideen that had saved the vast majority of Japan from destruction at the expense of his own life and wellbeing.

It wasn't her fault to have fallen for him. In fact a vast majority of the girls in the school were in love with him. He was tall, handsome, intelligent and kind though somewhat mellow as far as personality went. People often saw his quietness as a sign for extreme maturity on his part. On the other hand they never knew what he had to go through as a child after his father disappeared. He was sensitive to many things around him though he kept an outward appearance of being calm. Rarely one to panic he held the order in the chaos that plagued his grieving mother and his inquisitive sister.

His talents were what had saved his mother from shame at the fact that his father had vanished. People had speculated that his father had run off with another woman. She didn't remember when it was when he started wearing glasses but as far as she had always known him, his eyesight had been fine. Over time she began to realize just how much he looked his father wearing them. He had quit kendo once the rumors died down and focused on his academics. She had gotten into Mikansen due to the fact that her father and mother worked to get her in but Junki had to force his way through the ranks.

Always stubborn to the very end, he kept on staring on what was ahead of him, oblivious to the fact that he had gained the attention of the school. His kindness had landed him the favor of a great majority of the school, his intelligence had gained the interest of the teachers and his quietness in general was able to calm the rowdiest of classes. People respected and at the same time feared him. She never understood the fear part until recently.

He had been restraining himself for a while.

Reideen's existence and Junki's role as its pilot opened her eyes to the fact that there was more to him than he let on. The fact in itself was anything but comforting. In fact it was the most terrifying thing on the planet. He had almost died from that battle between him and the invading aliens. Yet in his increasingly role as something quite important, she knew that he was walking away from her. She detested the fact that he was leaving her but it couldn't be helped- not when he was the only chance that humanity had of surviving.

Unknown to the brown haired girl, Midorino Akira had been watching her with vivid green eyes before turning her attention back to the teacher.

"We have a new student today. I would appreciate it if you were to welcome Sakuma Soujun"

Everyone watched as the classroom door opened to reveal a tall boy with pitch black hair the same color as Akira's and eyes the color of sky. The girls of the class sighed over him. Between the new boy and Saiga Junki…it was going to be a tough call. He wore a pleasant smile but his eyes came directly in contact with Junki's.

From his seat Junki stiffened as the feeling of 'strangeness' washed over him. It wasn't strange really, but more on par with the fact that it was a similar feeling to Reideen's presence but at the same time not. Whereas his general reception of Reideen's presence was warm, the newcomer's was slightly colder though not at all too unpleasant. He knew who it was though it seemed to be like an impossibility given that he had destroyed the ship with God Great along with all traces of the ancient mecha.

However it would seem that the silver giant had survived through some odd means…He brought his hand down to his pocket where he kept the armlet that had mysteriously been in his jacket pocket. The smile on Soujun's face became much more profound. It wasn't a sinister smile but more rather a highly interested one. Junki looked to Akira who continued to look at the boy before allowing her attention to drift back to the front. It was a subtle sign that Soujun wasn't someone to be worried about at the moment. Though she was nonchalant about the boy's presence, Junki couldn't shake that penetrating gaze as the boy came up through the isle to take a seat behind Shiori.

He felt the contours of the small silver and gem studded barrette that rested in his pants pocket. How he always ended up with it baffled him. It would be the second time he had gotten it after a battle. Reluctantly he let it be as he turned his attention back to the teacher and watched the board. The problems were simple and he had already solved them in head. Now…as to the transfer student- that would be a different thing altogether.

0o0o0o0

A yellow envelope landed on the wooden desk with a definitive slap. Jyushiro Kimitake looked up as he shoved his glasses up his face to stare up at photographer Mitakana Hanabi as she smiled smugly at him. With a sigh he reached over to pick up the envelope and open it.

Kimitake was a relatively young man in his late twenties with dark brown hair and shrewd black eyes behind a pair of wire framed glasses. Some of the female workers called him cute but he was much too embroiled with his job working for a sports journal to even pay much attention to what the women were saying around the water cooler through there were wages that he would hook up with Hanabi. Now Hanabi was a rather beautiful woman with a lean, slender body, pitch black hair and warm brown eyes. However unlike most of her co-workers, being a photographer gave her room for eccentricity- such as wearing a T-shirt and jeans.

"You were actually able to find something interesting?" He asked as he spilled the photos into his hands, tossing the empty envelope onto the table.

"Mhmmm." She answered as she leaned against the edge with a smug smirk. "It took a while to compile all of the photos but there was one that really caught my interest. Though I'm not an expert of the sport, I do know that he's pretty good."

"Who's this he that you're talking about?" Kimitake asked as he looked up from the photos. He already pulled out the ones that were powerhouses in kendo. The others were faces that were either relatively new or unimportant.

Reaching into her bag once again, Hanabi procured another envelope and held it up. "This guy's pretty interesting. He's really talented."

Kimitake reached out to take the envelope. Opening it, he began to pull out the photos when the package fell from his hands and spilled the contents across the smooth table top. A few photos fluttered to the floor. He gazed up at Hanabi.

"Guessing by your reaction to the photos you must recognize him."

Pushing his wheeled office chair back, he turned to his file cabinet and riffled through the files and pulled out a vanilla folder before turning to face Hanabi. He procured a photo from the contents and put it beside one of the photos on the table. Though somewhat yellowed, the photo was relatively recent…if one accounted for the rough estimate of ten years or so. The person in the photo was a young solemn looking boy with brown wavy hair and contemplative eyes. A very pretty child indeed.

Next to it was one of the photos that she had taken. The resemblances were striking indeed. The young boy had become a handsome young man. The features had filled out to a refined bone structure and the boy now wore glasses though they were designer ones that accented his natural good looks rather well. Both photos revealed the boy wearing a kendo uniform.

"Saiga Junki..."

Hanabi's eyes widened as she turned to look at Kimitake. "The one that was supposed to be the youngest kendoka in history? The one that quit?"

"The very same one. He was something else. He held the future of kendo in his hands and let it go. We never figured that he was still sore about his father's disappearance and now proven as death. He went through a lot during that time, so it's understandable as to why he left. Yet to see him come back to kendo..."

It was interesting that after so long that he would come back to kendo. He had been rather straight laced about not returning if the rumors were true. Unlike the other sports, coverage on kendo wasn't that big yet still important enough to be covered. Saiga Junki had once been the topic of discussions due to the fact that he had been the only rising star in the kendo. All of the other young contenders couldn't match up to his skill. These days after he had left other prodigies had sprung up to fight over the empty throne he had left behind in his untimely retirement.

"Yes however I can't say for sure why he came back to the kendo world. I'm sure that his last opponent's family would object to his return."

"They have no right to object. Saiga gave the boy a way out and the boy didn't listen. I've heard the rumors that the fact that he had to fight the boy to the point of crippling disgusted him and whatnot. There might be some truth- it would not be out of disgust but perhaps out of guilt. Now that he's gotten over with I think it'll be quite the roar that he's come back to kendo. Funny to think that he's been doing it under everyone's noses this whole time."

Kimitake would go on for hours to solve so called mysteries with intensity once something caught his eye. Well, at least she was glad that she had gotten him out of his current funk.

"Now get me more photos and if you can a recording. I want to see if his skills had lain fallow after all these years or had grown sharp."

0o0o0o0

Junki leaned forward as he scanned the images that had been downloaded to his laptop from the telescope. There definitely was something that had come by the solar system but vanished. Normally he would have ignored it in favor of possibly being a meteor that had just passed by. However anything that entered the system was considered potential danger. He looked over at his wrists seeing the two tattoos branded on him.

They weren't that noticeable and were more like unusual birthmarks as opposed to tattoos. Even so the general shapes were more than enough to say that they were far from natural. His excuse had been melanin issues. People had been dense enough to fall for it.

Now he couldn't hide the fact that people were going to buy that excuse given that Gadeon's design was much more complex than Reideen's. Too complex to be passed as melanin issues…even the most dense person would know about it. Sighing he ran a hand through his hair. Oh well, he would just say that it was a tattoo even though he would get in trouble with the school. Not that it would be too much given that he was a straight A student with extra curricular activities such as kendo and archery.

However of the late he was gravitating toward the image of the bad boy now he thought of it. Little wonder why the teachers were giving him worried glances. Having a motorcycle seemed rather out of place for him along with his frequent absences. Glancing over at Shiori he caught her scowling at him and gave her a small smile. She visibly relaxed and he went back to his search on his laptop.

A small flashing window caught his attention. It was a secured email from the government. Groaning he looked around before opening it. Reading the contents he didn't know whether to be shocked or to be amused or even better yet…confused. Given that it was urgent he decided that he would have to cancel kendo and archery club today. Checking the time for the second time he stood up from his seat in the school library, shut down his laptop and left.

Half an hour later he arrived at VC Audio to greet his co-workers calmly as he stepped into the small office space.

"Oy Junki." Maedesaki greeted. "You got your e-mail right?"

"I wouldn't be here if you hadn't sent it to begin with." Junki replied as he refrained from rolling his eyes.

"Yeah…well…the officials should be coming in any moment now. So are you excited about it? I know that the other pilots are."

Junki glanced at Terasaki and Hoshikawa as they both shrugged their shoulders at the matter.

"Not really. It's still quite experimental isn't it? Though I'm quite sure as to the reason why I'm going to be piloting the experimental craft before the other pilots…isn't it a tad too…rushed on their part?"

Maedesaki shook his head as he shot a smile at Junki. "Not exactly, most of their accomplishments in creating the prototype came from you and you're excited because you get to see the fruit of your observation pay off."

"You're cruel Saiga-kun." The brown haired man complained.

"It's the truth." Junki replied as he caught sight of the other two chuckling.

Truthfully he didn't mind the other man's snooping tendencies at all but all the same it was a bit unnerving that the government found him more than suitable to play guinea pig to the experimental prototype that would work somewhat like Reideen in all aspects. He knew that it was a matter of time before they came up with the creations. It was a robot manga come to life- like Gundam or something like it.

"The kid has a point." Terasaki mused, "I mean I wouldn't like to be an experiment to your genius."

"You're too cruel Terasaki..."

There was a knocking at the door and the four of them looked at each other as Maedesaki coughed.

"It would seem that it's time to see the new product of the Jin Rai series."

Sure enough when the door was opened, it revealed a group of suit wearing men that screamed of government officials as they made their way down to black cars…Couldn't the government be more…subtle about everything? They could have gotten green cars…it would have looked less suspicious than black. Thankfully there weren't any tinted windows or else that would have really made the whole trip worse than it was.

Junki mused that people on the road would find it interesting that a school boy would be crammed into a car with men wearing suits. One could only come up with a logical answer that he would have been the son of a wealthy person…not a farfetched idea given that his school was rather wealthy and powerful in its right. He got in with his intellect, nothing more and nothing less. The scholarships were demanding but he didn't mind in the least. As long as he was guaranteed that he would land a promising career to take care of his mother- that's all that mattered. A bit of hardship on his part wouldn't hurt.

They reached the government facility and he stepped out of the car to gaze at the giant that towered over the vast majority of the buildings. Unlike Reideen or Gadeon which were respectively gold and silver; this new Jin Rai was pitch black with red markings.

"These babies are going to have custom paint jobs for each pilot so to distinguish between them better. Thanks to alien invasion our government has been provided another source of economy as far as arms goes."

Saiga turned to gaze at the Minister of Defense before back up at the dark robot. It was slimmer than the other Jin Rai counterparts. It had flight capabilities and looking at the shoulders he saw that they didn't carry any experimental bombs- or rather nuclear bombs if one wanted to get really technical. If there were no bombs then just what were the units equipped with?

"Though crude to Reideen, it's still something of a feat on our part."

He followed the Minister into the building as diagrams were shown and he was mildly shocked that all remotes would be connected to his nervous system and that the start ups would be voice and eye identified. The idea of having wires sticking out of him was unpleasant but he had no choice in the matter. Not when he was part of the government.

In the locker room he put on his plug suit which was no different than the one that Maedesaki had given him months before hand. Of course like the robot itself, the suit was black. Stepping out he made his way to the launch pad of the Jin Rai.

"So…given that you're the experimental prototype's pilot…what will you call this unit?" The mechanic asked just before he entered the cockpit of the giant.

Junki looked at the robot before answering. "Genzou…Phantom."

As he descended into the cockpit of the newly named unit he encountered dim lighting and noticed right away that the unit's insides were rather spacious…there was enough room for him to move about in but small enough to restrict said movements.

"Unit 000, power up."

The dim lighting became stronger as he leaned back against the seat and felt pricks as the acupuncture needles were inserted into his back and 'locked' into place via his suit. They didn't hurt per say but it felt odd having them there.

'Voice recognized: Saiga Junki.' Flashed across the 'screen.'

"Activating code Shinigami."

Immediately the display system came on and he could see the outside with clarity. The control systems were almost set up like Gadeon's. He was seated and had to control the giant machine…he visualized himself walking and felt the giant lurch forward.

"You're a rather fast adapter to the system…then again having piloted Reideen…it's not a surprise. The systems are fine so far." The minister's voice fizzed over the communications set that Junki wore.

"Piloting Reideen is fundamentally different…" Junki replied as he took a few moves forward before stopping.

It was surprisingly flexible given its large structure. Well then…he would just have to take it a notch further. He had heard that the metal chosen had been titanium refined with carbon and finished with chrome to prevent rusting given that chrome was a rust proof metal.

'Let's give this a try.' He thought as he began.

Genzou lurched forward once more but it was no longer walking but running down the length of the air strip before it leapt up into the air and began a series of aikido maneuvers.

"Send in one of the Jin Rai units." Junki said as he grew more comfortable with the system.

In the control tower the minister and the members of White Heron exchanged glances at each other before he sighed. The mechanics watched in open mouthed awe as their creation continued to do things that were out of its range of capabilities.

"Rin Rai Unit 1 launch!" The minister roared as one of the large buildings opened up doors to reveal a Jin Rai unit lumbering toward the prototype.

Without preamble the gun that the Rin Rai carried cocked and open fired but everyone knew that they were rubber bullets for this practice session. Genzou swiftly ran past the firing bullets and hurled itself up into the air before landing behind the firing robot and grabbed its arms.

Those in the control tower could hear panting coming over the communications system from both pilots.

"Shit why me?" The Jin Rai pilot complained as he held up his hands in surrender.

Junki on the other hand didn't pay heed to the man's words. Although somewhat advanced in terms of capabilities of all the other nations, it still did not hold a candle to Raideen but for the Jin Rai pilots, this would be a step closer for them to do something.

"The system installed can't process thought patterns swift enough." Junki said as he leaned back against his seat. "It could just be me."

As Junki wiped the sweat from his brown he glanced down at his hands. Chances were that the issue lie with his thought processes. The other pilots were trained in the use of guns and little else but Junki had been trained at an early age in the art of martial arts It was that training that made him mentally react faster than the machine could handle.

Back in the control tower the minister turned to Maedesaki. "That was unexpected. It was quite something that pilot Saiga did with the unit. I never knew that it was that capable."

"You might want to put more reinforcements on the unit. Like Junki said…with your other pilots the units will be fine but if you continue to use Junki as the experimental pilot you'll have to adjust the unit. His brain patterns are rather complex and extremely high on the charts. Being trained in the martial arts his whole life raises his already fast working brain to higher levels.

"It's a miracle that he didn't blow the unit up by overdoing it too much. I guess he noticed the differences and forced himself to hold back a lot of thoughts for the sake of not damaging anything. If you've actually to fully take the time to read my profile on him you would have drastically set a great number of programmers to adjust his mind's process speeds as not to put a strain on the unit. Also the mechanics and technicians would have put in more shock absorbent systems to lower wearing of the joints. Junki's mind is unforgiving."

With that Maedesaki tossed a USB drive onto the table. "Take a closer look and see what that kid's really capable of."


End file.
